Make Your Own Contraptions: Design and Build 50 Marvellous Machines - Tapa dura

Named after the cartoonist famed for his drawings of convoluted contraptions, 'Rube Goldberg' has become shorthand for all manner of fiendishly complicated devices that are designed to perform extremely simple tasks.Discover the history, theory and science behind these extraordinary contraptions and then put it all together to create your own marvellous machines.Each of the 50 projects consists of: a large scale-diagram, a shopping list of items needed, planning tips, detailed step-by-step instructions and problem solving strategies ensuring each outrageous apparatus is easy to construct, no matter how complicated it looks.From cartoons to car adverts, these elaborate contrivances have remained hugely popular for over 50 years; now for the first time you can discover how to create such monumentally maze-like contraptions.

Robert Beattie is a multi-talented journalist, fisherman, musician and craftsman. His writing has appeared in The Observer, The Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday. He is the author of several books including 101 Things to do in a Shed and 101 Incredible Experiments. Robert lives in Brighton.